Double Booking of Mission Impossible Tickets at Gateway Cinema (Ire)

We were all set. I had reserved 3 tickets. I had the booking number ready. I went to Gateway Mall two hours before the 9.50pm screening. I lined up. I paid for the tickets. I met my friends. We had a leisurely dinner. We didn’t bother to line up because the seats were assigned anyway.

However, when we finally went in, we found people on our seats. Confidently, I let my friend and the usher handle it because I knew we had the right to those seats. But, I knew something was wrong when the people seated didn’t vacate their seats.

The reason? We had exactly the same tickets.

Although I felt we had priority to those seats because of our reservation, the theater manager didn’t want to ask the people to vacate the seats. The only thing that stopped me from insisting on that right was when my friend said that it was a mom with her two kids who were the holders of the same tickets. I didn’t want to traumatize the children with this horrible situation that can escalate to an emotional pitch.

In exchange, the theater manager, Mr. Ron de Leon, offered us two seats that were beside each other and one separate seat that was very near the screen, and said that was the only thing he could offer for a situation that was out of his control.

I curtly demanded that he not say that. Nothing gets my ire up than managers who do not take control of the situation and think on their feet. Seeing as he was incapable of doing such, I did it for him.

I demanded that they give us Globe Platinum Cinema tickets at no extra cost (the ticket entitles the bearer entry to a lazyboy seat cinema with unlimited drinks and popcorn).

He agreed, but the only available Mission Impossible screenings were in the middle of the day of a Monday and a Tuesday, so I warned him that we might not be available, and said that we might have to take tickets to the next opening movie, in this case, Poseidon. He whined that they would have to pay for it because of a different agreement with the distributors.

I cut him off and said that it’s a small price to pay.

The lesson for us as consumers? Demand for a product that is of higher value in situations such as this, because managers in establishments are usually ignorant of worldwide industry practice to offer the client a much better product in exchange for their time, inconvenience and emotional distress.

Related Posts

Gateway Cinema Unlimited Popcorn and Drinks
Gateway Cinema Reservation System
Freebies from Shopwise Araneta & Outback Restaurant (Eye)
Aktres – A Salute to Women in Philippine Cinema
Eric Bana Trivia